Neptune is in a 2.5G tank with an aquarium light which is switched on the whole time(except at night), but my gripe is that we are constrained to keep the adjacent lights in the room switched on as well, lest he see his own reflection in the tank walls and start flaring.
I've observed this behavior the moments the lights in the room are shut and only the aquarium light is on. My wife jokes that with the kind of continuous flaring he does, his gills are soon gonna fall off

But seriously, how bad is flaring and does it stress them out? I can't move tank to any place else, so is there a way out of this conundrum?

There is nothing wrong with them flaring, lots of people actually say flaring is good for the betta. I guess I could see all day flaring as a bad thing, what you could do to stop it is either leave it on all day and let him flare, he will probably tire of it and get bored the same way they do when you put their tank next to another betta. If that doesnt work you could but something like a tank background on the side where it would be making reflections. But he should be fine.

There is nothing wrong with them flaring, lots of people actually say flaring is good for the betta. I guess I could see all day flaring as a bad thing, what you could do to stop it is either leave it on all day and let him flare, he will probably tire of it and get bored the same way they do when you put their tank next to another betta. If that doesnt work you could but something like a tank background on the side where it would be making reflections. But he should be fine.

Flaring is good for them. I make Zeus flare daily in 10 minute doses by putting a mirror on the side of is tank. If they flare too often it is possible to damage gil tissue, but that takes some excessive flaring. If you are concerned it is too much then out a book on the side of the tank at night to block some light, or cover that side of the tank with a towel.

Flaring is good for them. I make Zeus flare daily in 10 minute doses by putting a mirror on the side of is tank. If they flare too often it is possible to damage gil tissue, but that takes some excessive flaring. If you are concerned it is too much then out a book on the side of the tank at night to block some light, or cover that side of the tank with a towel.

Makes sense. Thanks neenjar! I would err on the side of caution and say that the amount of flaring is not something I'm comfortable with. 'Betta' safe than sorry!